Gusties Win 9-2 Over St. Kate’s in 2005 MIAC Opener

Laura Vannelli (7) celebrates with teammates following her third-period goal.

The Gustavus women’s hockey team scored six goals in the final period Friday night en route to a 9-2 win in its home opener against St. Kate’s. Friday’s game also marked the start of the Gusties’ 2005 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference campaign. Junior co-captain Andrea Peterson (White Bear Lake, Minn.) led the Gusties with four points, including her first hat trick of the season. Gustavus improves to 3-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the MIAC, while the Wildcats drop to 0-3-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the MIAC.

The Gusties scored first with a goal at the 12:22 mark of the first period by first-year Brigitte Bartholdi (Cloquet, Minn.) with assists from Stefanie Ubl (So., Blaine, Minn.) and Mari Gunderson (Fy., Shoreview, Minn.). The Gusties outshot the Wildcats 14-2 in the period but only mustered the one goal to lead heading into the first intermission.

Peterson scored the first of her three goals at the 2:34 mark of the second period to push the Gustie lead to 2-0. First-year Liz Haakenson (Moorhead, Minn.) and junior Kelly Crandall (Plymouth, Minn.) were credited with assists on the play. The Wildcats countered with a shorthanded goal by Resche Hierlmaier at the 8:19 mark, cutting Gustavus’ lead in half at 2-1. The Wildcats struck again just six minutes later on an unassisted goal by Laurel Volenec to even the score at 2-2. Peterson scored the final goal of the second period with 3:48 remaining, giving the Gusties a 3-2 lead after two periods of play.

The Gusties exploded in the final period for six goals, giving them an MIAC-leading 17 third period goals in just four games this season. Sophomore Laura Vannelli (Eagan, Minn.) started the barrage of final period goals just 26 seconds into the final frame pushing the Gustie lead to 4-2. Gunderson scored Gustavus’ fifth goal at the 4:50 mark off assists from Peterson and Bartholdi. Sophomore Molly Doyle (Eagan, Minn.) scored two goals and Crandall scored one goal in the final seven minutes of the third period, while Peterson added her third for the hat trick with 3:40 remaining in the game. The Gusties went on to win 9-2 to open the 2005 MIAC season.

Peterson led all scorers with four points, including three goals and one assist. Doyle added two goals and one assist, while first-year Jessie Doig (New Prague, Minn.) chipped in with three assists. Sophomore netminder Danielle Koopman (Brewster, Minn.) recorded her first win of the season for the Gusties.

Hierlmaier and Volenec each recorded unassisted goals for St. Kate’s. Morgan Kane suffered the loss for the Wildcats in net after making a season-high 53 saves.

Gustavus, which is currently ranked fourth nationally in the USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll, converted on 2-of-5 power play opportunities. The Gusties have now converted on 8-of-26 power play opportunities for the season (30.8%), while holding their opponents to only one power play goal in 20 attempts. St. Kate’s finished 0-for-4 with the extra skater on Friday.

The Gusties now lead the all-time series against the Wildcats, 16-2-0, and will play St. Kate’s again Saturday at 2 p.m. in Minneapolis at Ridder Arena.